


The Other Side of the Desert

by ToriRay



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Imperial Luke, Luke just want to fit in, Queen Amidala - Freeform, and Leia just wants to find her place in the world, and it makes me sad but its the force so no one is never really gone, kind of, major death doesnt really happen till last few chapters, no beta we die like men, the desert is both literal and figurative
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24117340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToriRay/pseuds/ToriRay
Summary: Twenty years ago the wall was created to separate the Republic from the Empire. Commissioned in the desert that divides the world, the Jedi of the Republic used the last of their waning power to protect their world from the evils of the Empire.Now, the son of Darth Vader waits for something to happen to his life that will make the darkness his father preaches to make sense, and the daughter of Queen Amidala waits for the day she figures out what happened to her father.
Relationships: Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. The Exit

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> This is my first time writing a multi-chapter work so lets hope I can actually finish it before the year is up.  
> This work has loose elements from the Musical Razia's Shadow, and when I say loose I mean the a song inspired the first chapter, and another song inspired the final chapter, if you have heard the musical, you have no idea what is really gonna happen.  
> Please enjoy!

Luke had always been a dreamer. Ever since he was a child he would dream about flying high above the mountain tops. Of seeing lands that no one had seen in a hundred years. Of traveling across the desert and beyond the wall that divided the world. Not being stuck here, in the Empire that he called home; that his father devoted every second of his life to. To that creepy old man that Luke himself had to bow down to and call Emperor and majesty.

He could go. He could do it. He was smart enough.

He would take a speeder. Ride all night till he got to the desert and the wall that separated the Empire from the mysterious Republic, a land governed by the rulers of the light. The Amidala and her council of force wielders.

He stared out the window of his study to the training field where the inquisitors were doing their morning workouts. He looked to the papers on his desk, that days homework of important documents, military strategy, and theology that his father wanted him to study.

No, he could not leave.

“Good morning Master Luke. Do you care for the newsholo this morning?” his father’s butler, Beaone asked as she entered his room with a tray of food and the day’s news already on the screen of the thin machine next to the plate.

“Thank you Beaone, if you could just leave it on the night table that would be great” he said, not taking his eyes off the training field as he watch a red-haired inquisitor take down a much larger opponent.

He could feel Beaone’s eyes glaring through his skull, “You better not be thinking of skipping your studies again Master Luke. Your father won’t be so forgiving next time.”

He turned to see Beaone begin making the bed, pretending as if she never said the words.

“My father will just have to put up with the fact that I am not a military genius like him. Once he gets over that fact we can both move on with our lives.” He said sternly as the older woman moved to pick up his discarded pillows.

“He won’t Master.” She looked at Luke dead in the eyes, making him feel like a child again, “I have worked for your father for almost twenty years, just about the time you came to live here, and he never changes, it is best that you become more like him. Better for all of us as well.” She began fluffing the pillows.

“The Emperor is getting old, he won’t sit on that throne too much longer, and for the good of the empire you must be able to command the people once your father takes his place on the throne. The gods know that the reason you are here.” She added as a sly remark.

Luke could feel his eyes narrow, Beaone was always a bit snarky, even insulting him sometimes, but he was getting annoyed now. “I think I am going to go for a walk, inform my tutor that I will not be meeting with him today.”

He didn’t want to wait for a reply. He just wanted to get away from that room. Away from this castle and the guards and inquisitors and servants and Beaone, who was surly going to report to his father that he was neglecting his studies again.

He didn’t care though.

His feet took him to the library. A sacred place in his mind, the home of the books that let his mind run free of the darkness that surrounded him in his home.

His hands traced along the spines of the tombs, the golden and silver titles flecked as his hands softly traced them till he found one of his favorites.

It wasn’t a myth, it was real. He had been told so in a dream, and his dreams often come true, so this must have been true at one point.

It was about the Kyber Crystals, and how the force users at one point used the Kyber to perform astonishing feats. They were warriors, monks, and scholars; the great men and women of an age that was long past. The last major Kyber Crystal had been destroyed before Luke had been born, the force-users of the Republic were no different from any other man now, save the few that had lightsabers. The force users of the Empire were a different story.

His father, Vader, was a force user. The Emperor was a force user, but he was not supposed to know that, and it was a terrible accident that he did find out the true power the Emperor possessed. And of course, Luke was a force user. He only had a small kyber crystal though, attached to a long necklace that he hid under a shirt, according to his father it was what separated him from those who are unworthy.

He looked over the passages of force-users again, it was rare to have a book based on a Republic sect of the order of the force, but he was glad that they did.

It was not just the stories about the force users that kept Luke from learning the things his father wanted him to learn. It was also the stories of the Light. The elegance and beauty of the Republic, with its marble columns and jade roofs, the capital city of Theed was possibly the most beautiful place he had ever read about.

His world was nothing compared to that, with all the tinted glass and large stone arches, he was trapped in a stone palace, a tomb, one that he could not escape, least he be met with the rage of his father.

He placed the book back in its place, safely between the others of its kind, thick bindings, and golden letters.

His eye caught a shine, coming from the end of the shelf. Curious, he walked down to it. It was a thin book. Maybe not even a book. It was only a few pages. He had never seen this one down here.

Carefully, he pulled the small book from its place against the wall and the much larger books. It held no title, no author name, or any discernable markings, besides that of two lines centered in the cover slanting into each other, but never touching.

He opened it.

The thin yellow pages had seen better days. They were crusty, as if they would tear themselves away at a single touch. But the ink was dry and dark, and in big black letters the first page read ‘The Chosen One: the one who will reunite the two halves and restore to us all that we have lost’.

Another book from the Republic! Luke had been searching for a new one. Another book to feed his ever-hungry thirst for everything his father disapproved of.

This book, however, did not have the mythical feel that the other books about the Republic had. The next few pages has lists of names, birthplaces, and accomplishments. Nothing was shared between these names except one thing, they were all labeled dead. He flipped through to the last page, only one name was on the last two pages, Anakin Skywalker. His name was followed by a birthplace ‘Unknown’ and a list of accomplishments, of which the highest was the title ‘High General of the Republic’ and ‘Prince Consort of Theed’, and like all the others, the end of the page laid the word ‘Dead’ in thick black ink.

He flipped back to the first pages, before the names and lists began.

He began reading.

‘The Chosen One has been the hero of folk lore and legends ever since the founding of the religions of the Force and the connection Force-wielders have with the Kyber crystals. It was said that one day the Force would lose its balance and one would be called upon to restore the balance, as the force does not interfere on its own.

First beginning as an oral folktale, the Chosen One has been the subject of many debates between the council of Force-users and many have thought that the Force would never lose its balance, as many are taught that the Force is balance itself.

However, there has been Chosen Ones announced by the council almost every other generation and turned onto the world to try and find a way to regain both sides of the desert and extinguish the darkness from destroying everything they hold dear.

Within this writing are the names of the twenty-seven people to be named Chosen One, and their failure at bringing the balance back and reuniting the force and all that divides the Empire from the Republic.’

Luke flipped through the pages again, they were definitely men and women of extraordinary talent, but as his eyes landed on the name Skywalker again he felt a tug. The man had died not long before Luke had been born. He wondered what might have killed the man, this Anakin Skywalker, known the most for being a powerful General and marrying the Queen of the Republic.

He moved to put the book back but hesitated. Why should he put it back, it might be more interesting to read it tonight. Perhaps he could read more about the other Chosen Ones who failed at the task that their council laid out for them.

The book fit right in his pocket, almost as if it was meant to sit in there. He left the library without looking back on the row he had taken it from.

He walked down the cold stone halls, feeling the stares of the servants as he passed them. His father was definitely looking for him.

“You are needed in your father’s chambers” the muffled voice of an inquisitor came from behind.

He turned to look at them, “And who’s orders is it that I see my father?” he asked, knowing very well that his father had called him, why else would an inquisitor be tracking him down.

“The orders came from Lord Vader himself.” The inquisitor came closer and in a whisper said, “So if you know what is good for you and the servants you will get to his chambers now Luke, before another helpless messenger dies.”

He looked at the expressionless helmet, “I’ll head there right away, but Mara, you need to learn not to let messengers tell him I skipped class, just let me tell him when he eventually finds out.”

“I didn’t send the messenger, I don’t know who did, I was just dispatched by Lord Vader to find you. Though I am surprised I did not find you in the library again, asleep with your head in a tomb larger than you.” She joked at him with a low voice.

“You know I can still take you down right?” he might be short, but after beginning his own training at five years old he was probably more powerful than almost everyone in the palace, minus his father and the Emperor who rarely graced them with his presences here in Mustafar.

He could feel her rolling her eyes at him through the helmet, “Just go to your father and get whatever punishment he has for you. Why you cannot just do what your told and act like you should I will never understand.” She walked off, her red sword glowing with the kyber dust that was forged in it, helping bring out her force abilities when she fought.

Luke touched the lightsaber on his hip. A weapon from a different time. One where thousands could wield the force to its full extent; now only a hand full even had access to the mystical power. He sighed and turned to walk to his father’s rooms.

The rooms where as bleak as ever, with the only real color coming from the fireplace on the opposite wall. The dark walls and dark floor really showed off his father’s bubbly personality. If only. The dark wooden bookcases filled with books in multiple languages towered over him on their way up the wall, while the desk in the middle was covered in old papers and data pads. A mesh of old and new technology that few had access to, and to the side, the long dark figure of his father. Lord Vader.

“Son” his father said simply, standing at the window that faced the desert, and off in the distance, the mountainous wall the separated the Empire from the Republic.

His father wasn’t Lord of anything really, it was just a title. He was commander of the army and the heir to the Empire, but not a lord of even the land his palace resided on.

“Father” he replied back, knowing the conversation was going to be the same as all the others, his father would raise his voice, then raise his hand in a threat, Luke would stand his ground and tell him what he wanted to hear, and then that would be that.

“I know that you have been making plans to leave”

“What!” Luke yelped in shock, not realizing that this was the direction the conversation was to be going in.

How could he know? Luke had not though about leaving in a while, unless you counted this morning, but before that he had not thought about it in at least a month. Had his father been reading his thoughts without Luke knowing? Had he been watching him more closely lately and seen something?

His father turned from the window and walked to his desk, picking up a small leather journal that was awfully familiar to Luke.

“I see that while you might not be as proficient in military strategy, you are good at making escape plans. Though you need to account for the changing of guard more often when the one in charge knows you are trying to escape” He threw down the journal as Luke turned his head from the crude plans.

He knew his father was waiting for him to say something. Something to take away the anger that he could feel pouring from his father in heaps of darkness in the Force.

“You will be punished for this. Do you know what they would do to you there in the Republic? Do you!” His father yelled in anger, coming around the desk, his long cloak sweeping in a dark shadow.

He grabbed Luke’s shoulders, “They would lock you in a cage and use any power they could to make you forget me! To forget all that you have here! Do you want to lose everything you have here, to have me come find you in the Republic, try and rescue you, only to see you try to kill me after those Jedi scum have filled your head with nothing but foolish nonsense!”

“But it’s not like that Father!” he pushed away from his father’s hands, “I hear this calling, something is telling me that there is something waiting for me on the other side of that wall, something that I have to see and find!” Luke thought about the small book he had found in the library, sitting in his pocket still.

“There is a prophecy,” he took the book out of his pocket and showed his father, “A prophecy about someone bringing balance to the force and to all who use it. What if that is what I am supposed to do! What if it is me who is supposed to travel across the desert and reunite the Empire and Republic!”

His father let out a long, cruel laugh, “You are not the Chosen One” he hissed, “The Chosen One was weak, they all were. Relying on Jedi teaching and foolish dreams, but they were all powerless when the time truly came, they never had the power to do what had to be done.” Vader snatched the small book from Luke’s hand. He flipped through the pages before settling on the last one, staring at it for a brief second, pure rage and anger flooding the room as his father stared at it. Then casting it into the fire and watching it with hatred as it burned, snapping as the binding began breaking off.

He turned to face his son once more and looked down on Luke with cold eyes, “If you ever leave and go to the other side, I will have no choice but to hunt you down and end your foolish dreams. You are not the Chosen One, there will never be another Chosen One for the Jedi to torment again, I made sure of that.”

“My life is meant to be more than just sitting here in the dark, surrounded by those who hate me, you might be made for the darkness Father, but I was not.” Luke stormed out of the room.

Knowing that his Father would be sending an Inquisitor to find him again in a few minutes, but he knew what he had to do now. He had to leave; leave and prove his father wrong. He would reach the city of light and fulfill the prophecy of the Chosen One. How he would do it he had no idea, but he knew that his dreams held the answer, he would find the Jedi, he could find more Kyber Crystals. He would heal the wound in the Force and reunite the two sides of the world.

Or maybe he would find a quiet place to settle, away from all that his father had taught him. Away from the training and battle plans, away from the Force and Inquisitors, and the Emperor. He wished he could take Mara, his only real friend, if you could call the hot-tempered woman that.

He reached his rooms where the red headed devil was already waiting for him on his bed, playing with her favorite knife, her helmet sitting on his bedside table while her hair was sitting nicely on her shoulders, free from the bun she usually had it in. His father must have contacted her.

“Well isn’t this interesting, the little boy thinks he can have a go at daddy and then storm off.” She slid off the bed, sheathing the knife against her thigh, “What are you twelve? Do you know that when you defy Lord Vader you put us in danger! He might never hurt you, but he sure as hell hurts his ‘foolish inquisitors’!” her eyes stabbed him as she spoke in anger.

“Im leaving.” Luke stated simply. “You won’t have to worry about me making him mad ever again.” He grabbed for a small bag to hold the necessary items to help him cross the desert.

Mara stood in shock for a moment. “You’re what!”

He grabbed a thick tan cloak from his closet and wrapped it around himself and switched his shoes for better traction.

“You are going to get me killed, all of us killed!” she hissed at him, staring at him with her emerald eyes.

He looked at his bag, he knew his father’s rage would not be stopped if he left, it would just follow him.

He clenched his fist, “I can’t do this anymore Mara. I can live here in the dark.” He breathed in and steadied his breath, “Have you ever felt that you were not meant to be who you are now? That something is missing, or that you are meant to do something different than what everyone tells you to be?”

Her eyes narrowed, “You cannot escape the empire Luke. I will have to report to Vader what you are saying, he will not be pleased.” She made to leave the room before Luke grabbed her arm.

“NO, Mara please!” She was turned away from him, but he could feel that something he said touched something in her.

“You feel it too Mara. I don’t belong here; I was never meant to sit in the darkness. I need to see the light, to see the other side of the world.” He pleaded to her. He needed her to understand him if he was going to have any shot at leaving

She whispered something that he couldn’t make out. “What did you say?”

She sat on the foot of his bed “I was not born here. I was taken from the Republic. I saw my records before the doctor could clear it during my last evaluation.”

“I know what you mean,” She continued, “to want to know what is on the other side, but you can’t. Even if you might be from there.”

“Im not from there Mara, I was born here. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see it.” He said somberly

Luke could feel confusion come from Mara, “What do you mean Luke, Vader brought you back during the last sieges of the war.”

He turned his head to stare at her, not understanding, “What do you mean, how could you even know that?”

She breathed in, “I heard them discussing it as a child. About the boy Vader brought back and was raising as his son. I hated you” She stared past the ground as she spoke, visions of her past flying in her mind, “I was brough in by Palpatine himself, and given to the Inquisitors, but you? Oh, you were raised as a Prince and you never cared. You never knew how good you had it; Vader never laid a hand on you!”

She stood back up, eye level with Luke now, her lips full of the accusations she could lay on him, but she didn’t. Though her face was hard she could only laugh in her head, she was never meant to be anything other than a pawn to those who ruled her life, the least she could do was mess up their game.

She walked around his bed and picked up his bag and shoved it in his hands. “If you think the other side of the desert holds the answers for you be my guest. Vader will hunt you down, and then it will not matter who he wanted to pretend you were, you will be just the same as all of us Inquisitors, orphans snatched by the empire before we could form words.

Luke took the bag from her hands, “Come with-“

“No.” She said sharply, “They obviously didn’t care enough about me to protect me the first time around, why would I want to waste my time looking for something that never cared for me.”

He put the bag around his neck and laid it on his shoulder. “I hope we see each other again”

“For your sake I hope I never have to see you again, alive or dead. But since you are leaving you better make it look believable.”

He knew what she meant. He ignited his lightsaber as she drew her sword and he quickly threw a few quick jabs at her which she parried easily, only to be caught in his force hold, she dropped her sword as he threw her against a wall, knocking her out cold. He felt terrible but hoped it would protect her a bit more from the wrath of his father…or whoever Vader might be.

Luke left quickly after that. Taking the servant passageways to avoid any guard Vader might send out to stop him. It felt strange for Luke to not refer to him as father, but something in his mind told him that Vader was not the name of his true father. The question he had never thought to ask was finally being answered.

He would find the truth in Theed, he knew it. The capital city of the Republic, the holder of the most knowledge and their ruler, Amidala, the only one to hold their ground against Emperor Palpatine and his armies.

He grabbed a horse from the stables. The speeders would only break in the desert, as the sand would enter the motor and destroy it. He kicked the animal to get moving and felt a shutter in the Force as Vader finally realized that he was leaving. It was now or never, Vader would not be happy when he next saw Luke, but if Luke has his way he might never have to see the man who raised him again.

Luke pressed the horse and soon he was out of the city, the guards and Inquisitors far behind him as he rode on, the desert not far in the horizon, and the wall not far after that. He knew he was making the right choice, the little feeling in his gut told him so, as did the whispering voice of the Force.

The ride would be difficult and passing as a citizen of the Republic would not be any easier, but his hope was strong he would find his meaning in all of this. That he would find the reason this Chosen One prophecy was so ingrained into his mind, who is real family might be, and maybe, just maybe find something better than the darkness. The emptiness that the Empire could never fill.


	2. The Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia’s strange dream leads to an even stranger encounter with her mother, and a revelation that she never expected from her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, so this is not a totally new update persay, but I realized as I was trying to write out the rest of the story that I moved a little fast in the last chapter two, so I have changed some things around and messed with time a bit. but don't worry, Luke and Leia will meet soon, I just had to get some other stuff out of the way before they could meet, or else somethings wouldn't work like I want to. I also threw some small things into the dream just to cover a base that I didnt before.   
> So yeah, chapter three should be coming this weekend, and if that doesn't happen, then next weekend.

She was surrounded by sand. It shifted around her feet as she walked through the large dunes and went off forever into the distance as her eyes wandered the horizon.

She was lost in the desert.

There was nothing there for her to see but miles of sand, and the twinkling stars in the sky that seemed to shine brighter than she had ever seen.

Her aunt would tell her that the stars shine brightest in the barren desert, but Leia knew that they also shinned brightest in her dreams, and this was certainly a dream. Her mother would never dare let her go this far from Theed and the great province of Naboo, and she would never be able to get this far from the place guards that watched her every move ‘for her protection’.

In her dreams though, she could see the places that she had never been allowed to visit. She had seen the shores of Lothal, been to the races in the Tatooine territories, and even seen what she suspects was the Imperial Palace of Coruscant, where the Empire kept their seat of power on the other side of the world.

The Imperial Palace had been the most frightening of her dreams. She had walked alongside a young boy while he entered the throne room with a dozen other children all dressed in black, dark red blades swinging at their sides. After that dream, her Aunt taught her to better control her dreams, and the visions she received from them.

The desert shifted around her once more, the sands pushing her to walk to the West, towards the barrier that divided the world. Her feet followed the wind and sand, her nightdress whipping around her ankles as the sand became darker and shiny.

She knelt to touch the sand, it was burnt, almost enough to make it into glass! She reached farther out; she could feel many different energies in the air, and above all of them, was one that seemed so familiar, yet so different. She felt split in this space, like there was herself and a shadow, something that she needed to be made whole.

‘ _LEAVE’_ it seemed to scream in their mind. The air around her arm began to stiffen and turn solid, she pulled her arm back, but they caught it.

The air became solid, a mirror to protect the sides from each other. On the other side though, was them, the shadow. She could feel their arms pounding on the glass as it kept them from returning home, from finding home.

She saw the shadow pounding on the mirror. A crack formed. Small, but there. Arms pulled away from the glass and a wave of concentration washed over her. She felt a calling in the distance, a soft voice begging for help from the unknow. Their voice, _her_ voice, _his_ voice.

Leia placed her hand on the small crack. They belonged on _this_ side of the wall. On _this_ side of the desert.

Leia felt something stir in her. A pull as space disordered itself and they were on the same side of the wall. The air around her turned, the barrier seemed to disappear back into the sand of the desert.

Leia looked around her, but she was all alone in the desert once more, her shadow gone as the stars twinkled down on her, brighter than she had ever seen them. A small speak seemed to be running in the distance, swallowed by the sky.

Leia walked a little more in the desert, feeling the wind push her in another direction farther down the barrier. She climbed through a deflation hallow and came across a small hut made of desert materials.

It was crude, almost as if the builder did not truly know what they were doing. The windows were covered with small bits of wood to keep the storming sands out of the inhabitants space. The outside was barren except for one small wind chime made of small dull rocks of varying colors of blue and purple, except the very middle one, that one seemed to glow softly in the star light, twinkling green as the wind blew on it slightly.

Leia reached out to touch it, but the door of the shack was thrown open and a man stepped out. Covered in scarfs and robes, Leia could not tell what his face looked like.

He seemed to stare at her through his grimy goggles as he pulled his scarf down revealing his mouth and greying beard, and though it was dark out, she could she him perfectly, as if he shined in the light of the small rocks that decorated his doorway.

 _“It is not yet time for you to come here young one, I think it is time you went home”_ His voice was accented, not unlike some of the people Leia knew from the Theed court.

She wanted to reply, but the man stuck out a finger and touched her lightly on the forehead. She felt a light enter her and saw herself falling.

\------

Leia felt her eyes open to streams of light leaking from her windows, the thick curtains not doing their job properly as she turned onto her stomach, hoping to get a better glimpse at what she had been dreaming of. It was that dream again. The same one that she had been having for weeks now. Was the force trying to tell her something? Was she supposed to go to this wall that she kept seeing? Was she missing something important that her mind wanted her to remember? Why could she never remember the full dream even after knowing that it is always the same one?

It had been something to do with her shadow and the desert, and an old man had been there. Or had it been a young man. Maybe it had been about her trying to run away? Or had it been about the time she and Winter had raced down the hills at Varykino during a snowstorm?

She sat up and grabbed her head; the images were getting muddled. There had been hills, but they shifted, never staying the same. There had been a mirror and she had seen the other side. Or she had been on the other side. The dream was fading again. It always faded.

She was forgetting something. Something important. Something that she didn’t realize in the dream. She needed to speak with her aunt about this. She would know what Leia had missed in her dream.

A knock came at the door.

“My lady, are you awake?” It was one of the maids, “Your Aunt has requested that you come to her after breakfast.”

Leia fell back to her pillow, dream forgotten as she remembered she was supposed to meet her Aunt , who was due home today from the coast and they were supposed to train, “I will be right there, thank you” She called to the door as she heard the maid walk away to continue with her chores.

She jumped out of bed and ran to her closet, well, her normal closet, the one with what she liked to call her casual attire. Her mother called it unbecoming, but Leia knew that her mother only said that because all the Queen had been wearing for the last thirty years was large gowns that she was required to wear to court. As the princess, Leia only had to be dressed formally when in court, not just when it was in session, a gift that she hoped she would be able to cherish for a very long time. The formal dresses that her mother made her wear were stiff and uncomfortable. They all had symbolism behind them that Leia had never cared to remember, from the smallest broach to the tallest head piece to the most voluminous gown, they all represented something to the people of the different provinces and territories of the Republic that her mother ruled.

Leia did not want to rule those places though. If the princess had it her own way, she would have already set off to become a Jedi under the guidance of her Aunt Ahsoka, learning the ways of the force as her father had before her and bringing peace to the Republic by destroying the Empire and their Emperor.

She pulled on her workout clothes. A traditional robe that the Jedi wore, and one that had at one point been her father’s when he was a young padawan if Leia was correct about which room it had come from. The beige colors were calming, and the modesty of the fabrics allowed for the Jedi to realize their place in the world as keepers of the peace, not warriors who play at being knights.

She quickly left her rooms, rushing off in the direction of the sparing rooms.

\------

Her Aunt was meditating when she arrived. Her long white hair braided with blue ribbons, a golden and red band woven across her forehead, disappearing into her thick hair.

"You are late." The woman said, not opening her eyes from her meditation.

"I'm sorry master, I over slept" The brunett said sheepishly as she closed the doors.

Her aunt stood up, floating as she used a small bit of the force to push her tall body upwards. The small crystal around her neck glowing as she connected to the Force

The older lady smiled, “Do you know what you father would do to me if I had been late for training”, she suddenly lashed a wodden saber out to attack Leia.

The princess was quick though, she jumped out of the way, and focusing on a wooden saber on the wall, called it towards her, opening herself just a small bit to the Force.

"Remember to keep your shoulders back, do not slouch into the strike” Her master threw another swing with the short sentence.

“Keep your feet apart, and don’t cross them needlessly.” Another heavy swing which Leia caught with the wooden saber.

Her teacher swung again, at her feet this time. Leia jumped and flipped away from her white-haired master. Positioning herself again on the ground, getting her feet in a better position to defend against her larger opponent.

“Good move Leia,” Her master ran at her, Leia dodged the saber and went in to hit her aunt in the leg, but found the wooden saber at her neck, “but remember to not turn your back to an opponent, especially if they are known to use two weapons.”

Leia sighed; she had never been able to win a match against her aunt. Maybe she should look into using a shoto blade as well.

“Now, I feel as if you have something you wanted to talk to me about” Her aunt kneeled down to her eye level, her blue eyes filled with knowledge and power that Leia hoped to someday possess.

The princess shrugged and stood up from the mats, “I had a strange dream last night, but I cannot remember what it was all about.”

“What do you remember of this dream?” there was a spark of curiosity in her aunt’s voice.

Leia thought, brows furled as she tried to remember more of the dream as it slipped away in her waking hour, “There was a wall, it was keeping me from seeing something. A man was there too, he was old, and worn looking. He knew me. He told me something, but I cannot remember it.”

Her aunt put a tanned hand on her shoulder, “As with all dreams a person has, you must remember Leia, not everything you see is a vision. You must be certain of what you see, what you hear, what you smell and touch when you are not awake. Get in a meditative position. Close your eyes, breath in what you smell during the dream, tell me every sound, every taste, what does it feel like when you dream. Can you tell if its a real place, or is it something you have created?”

Leia did as she was told. Sitting on the ground again, hands on her legs, eyes closed, opening her mind and body to the Force. she imagined the world she had seen. She could see the hot sand spinning around her as she trekked through the desert. It was daytime. It was different. She could see trees one horizon. They were tall and thick, with moss hanging from them, gently swaying in the breeze. To the other horizon in the North were mountains. Tall, snow covered peaks that seemed so small in the distance. All around her was the smell of a market, the shouts of people around her, and a question forming in her mind that she couldn’t reach.

But this place, this loud market seemed to be nowhere near the desert. Why had her dream, or vision suddenly changed. She suddenly stopped in her tracks. She looked around putting a hand on her hip where her weapon would be. Someone was watching her. Following her. Something wasn’t right.

She was thrown from the force back into the light of the sparing room.

Gasping for breath as her body fell back on to the mat beneath her. She felt her aunt’s concern as she got out of her own meditation.

“Leia. Leia. Look at me.”

Leia’s sight was blurred. Something was wrong. Why was it day. Her dream had been at night.

“Leia, are you okay” She could see her aunt now, the birthmarks on her cheeks and forehead were scrunched in concern for the young girl.

“I… Im fine Aunt ‘Soka. Just got a little lightheaded” She sat up, holding her forehead, wondering what that was all about. Who was following her, watching her?

“What did you see?”

“I was in a market. There were tall trees and I could see the mountains in the distance. “Leia shook her head, “But you shouldn’t be able to see the mountains from the desert, it is too far away, and why had it all changed so suddenly. For weeks now it was desert. Why is it now a market with mountains and trees.”

Her aunt was lost in thought. This would happen when Leia explained her strange dreams to the Jedi. The dreams that rarely made sense, but that her aunt would try and guide her through to the best of her abilities, usually falling back directly on what she could remember from Leia’s own father when he would describe his strange dreams to his apprentice and master.

Her aunt had voiced her wish a few times that Master Kenobi was still around, but he had been dead for almost as long as Leia’s own father and could not help her with the oddities that Leia had seen throughout her childhood dreams.

“I think that it might just be a dream. It could be focusing on your wish to leave Theed to see the other regions. These places are locations you have only heard about, with the desert being the farthest you could go in the republic, it would make sense you would see that as a place to travel to.”

It was a thought, but Leia could not shake the thought that it might be something more.

“And you would be right about it too. I have been speaking with the Queen about maybe taking you on a relief mission to Ryloth or Shili in the next few weeks.”

Leia felt her face light up, she was going to leave the capital? She would finally be away from Theed and be alongside her Aunt and she would be able to do some good to help the people of the Republic.

“Don’t get to excited though Skygirl, your mother still has not said anything about it, but I think that I might be able to wear her down a little bit.” She nudged Leia’s arm, “besides, most of the fighting is on the coast, and I have many connections in Shili and Ryloth that if anything happened you would be safe.”

Leia felt a smile creep on her face, “So, if we did leave Theed for a relief mission, would you consider beginning my real training?” She asked hopefully.

Sure she knew the basics of lightsaber work and could meditate well enough, but she could not use the force the way her Aunt could, even if the older woman was limited by the use of her small crystal.

Her aunt’s face turned a bit, “If we were to go, it would be only to help the people of those areas and we would probably have a royal guard. I don’t think it would be the best time to begin your actual training Leia. Besides,” the white-haired woman sighed, “You know that your mother would never allow you to become a Jedi. You are going to be the Queen and need to focus on that more than Jedi training.”

“But my father was a Jedi and the prince, why can I not be a Jedi and the Queen?” Leia demanded, knowing it was childish, but so was not letting her understand a whole side of herself that her mother forbade her from learning about.

Her aunt shook her head, “It’s not that simple Leia”

“Then what is it! I am nineteen years old; my father started his training when he was nine, you started yours when you were three! What makes me so different that I cannot learn to become a Jedi!” Leia could feel her own kyber necklace growing hot, as it always did when she got emotional.

The necklace was different than her aunt Ahsoka’s. Instead of amplifying the older woman’s power to reach the small bit of Force the world seemed to have these days, it was made to keep Leia’s own powers in control. She had been very powerful as a baby, so powerful in fact, that she had been able to control her toys and had liked to see them float around the room when she played. One day though, she had begun levitating her own small body and had to be rescued from a tree by the captain of the palace guard. She was then gifted the necklace by the Jedi order to keep her powers in check till she could learn how to fully control them.

She had never received such lessons and even now her aunt would not teach her why her power in the force was so abundant when everyone else seemed to struggle. She had theories of course, but she needed to know the truth for once.

“Leia” Her aunt said softly, “Just allow me to try and convince your mother on this one thing, then we can try and go from there. There is much that you do not yet understand for reasons beyond my control, but you will learn your mother’s reasons, trust me.”

Leia could only give the woman a small nod, “Fine.”

Leia left the sparing room. She needed to cool off. She needed to do something other than think about her mother and her aunt and anyone else who thought it was a good idea to keep her in the dark when she was an adult who could make her own choices on what is good for her.

\------

She needed to get out of the castle. She needed to get away from the confining walls and motionless guards that followed her ever step as she walked through the ancient palace of her mother’s family.

Leia just needed to be around people. Not the guards that were called clones by the palace staff because of how little their armor differed and made all of them sound the same when the helmet was on. Not around her mother’s advisors whose extravagant dresses and clothing made Leia want to vomit from the clashing colors and exaggerated styles that made her think she was in some exotic wonderland where nothing made sense. Not even her mother, who was always the picture of perfection to everyone, showing them the grace and understanding that Leia had never been on the receiving end of.

No, Leia just needed to get away from the court and everything that reminded her of it. She needed her mother to say yes to Ahsoka’s offer of a relief mission. She needed to see the world outside of meaningless dinners and galas. She needed someone who could understand that she was not supposed to be a figurehead, she was supposed to be a warrior like her father.

She walked to her rooms; she could hear Winter in her closet picking something out. The girl was the only friend her age now the Ezra had been shipped off with Kanan to fight in Lothal. Leia remembered how she had begged her mother to allow her to go with Kanan and Ezra, how she would only stay in the command center, how she just wanted to see what they were doing, see how the war was going, and how the Empire was effecting her people on the coasts.

The Queen, however, was a strict as she was uncaring when it came to Leia wanting to help her people. Padame Amidala said she would never let her daughter leave Theed while the Empire still threatened the Republic. Leia had not spoken to her mother for a month after that occurrence, and the only reason the streak had been broken was because she and her mother had a dinner Leia could not get out of with high ranking people in the republic. Leia was forced to sit through three hours of small talk and way too many courses that night.

“My lady, are you alright?”

Leia look realized she had been staring daggers into the dress Winter had lain out for her, her crystal feeling hot against her chest. She looked at Winter sincerely, “I’m fine. I was just thinking about my mother.”

Winter knew all of Leia’s grievances with the Queen, mostly because Winter was always there when Leia needed someone to talk to, also because Winter was the only other person her age around most of the time. Also because of the dress up that Winter and Leia would participate in whenever Leia escaped from the palace for a stroll through the city market next to Theed palace. Winter would just put on a wig, and voila, Princess Leia would be sulking in the library for the time being and not speak to anyone before going back to her rooms and giggling with her handmaid for the next few hours.

No one had caught on yet, though Leia was pretty sure the Capitan of the guard, an older man named Rex, had a suspicion. Of course, she never did it when Ahsoka was in the palace, or at least not as often.

“Well, you should probably get dressed for the day Leia, you know how you mother reacts to you wearing those” Winter gestured to the Jedi robes Leia was sporting.

Leia snorted, “As if I care what she thinks. If she has a problem with my clothes she can tell me herself.”

“Leia, if you want your mother to let you do the things you want, why do you not try and just compromise.”

“My mother doesn’t compromise with me Winter. You know this.” Leia turned from the white dress and walked towards her desk overlooking the gardens, “She just wants to keep me locked up like some prized doll that never sees any use. I should be out there. Seeing my people. Helping them through the war that is decimating their homes, helping protect them like my father and aunt did. Like my own mother did when she was younger than I am.”

Leia could feel her anger rising, her anger at her mother for never letting her do what she wanted, what she needed to do. For not letting her make her own choices and instead acted like the second Leia left the world would end.

She closed her eyes, concentrated on her breathing. She shouldn’t get so worked up. She could feel the crystal heat up on her chest. She was getting out of control.

_She could see trees, and books, papers scattered along an old and worn desk. Searching. They were searching for something. A name appeared. She should know this name. it was familiar, so familiar. But why did it not connect with anything. Images of a man, ginger, with a kind smile and a nice voice. Why were they searching for him? They needed to find them!_

She opened her eyes quickly and grabbed her head. It was another vision. Why were they getting stranger and stronger.

She felt Winter put a hand on her shoulder as a knock on the door scared both the girls who had been lost in thought.

“You may enter” Leia called to the door, whatever the messenger had to say better be good, she had a vision she needed to dissect.

Through the door entered Rex. A tall, older man with a slight color to his skin, and wisps of grey hairs starting to peak through his blond buzz cut that according to gossip he had been wearing since he was twelve. His helmet was in his arms, as customary when speaking with a higher rank, not that Leia had a rank other than Princess, but he said it was only polite since she was the child of his General.

“Princess, you are needed in your mother’s office.”

Leia just rolled her eyes and sat in the chair beneath her, “I am not talking to her right now.”

“Please Princess, you will want to hear what your mother has to say.” He came through the threshold of the door, pleading a bit with her, walking toward her. Leia knew she was being difficult, but so was her mother.

“I don’t care, unless its about what I was discussing with my Aunt earlier I-“

He put a hand on her shoulder, “Please Leia, you need to hear what your mother has to say.”

A sight feeling of dread washed over the Princess. Rex’s eyes held something in them that Leia could not fully understand, was it remorse, morning, some sort of dread that Leia was not familiar with yet? She could feel it all in the Force, but could not comprehend what emotion he was sending, she just knew that it felt like tears of the worst kind.

“What’s going on?”

“Please, your mother will explain everything.”

\------

The walk to the north wing of the palace was filled with nothing but that strange sense of dread and morning that was coming off of Captain Rex in waves. Leia tried asking more questions but was only met by the soldier’s silence. Instead he continued walking straight through the castle with Leia at his heals.

She did not know what might be awaiting her in her mother’s office. Had something gone terribly wrong on the battlefield? Had the Empire broken through and had surrounded the capital, calling for her mother and the rest of the Republic ruler’s heads’? Or something much worse that she couldn’t even comprehend it.

Rex stopped at the doors. They were wooden, a soft shade of light brown that never really appeared as dull as they were today. Rex knocked on the doors and was given the go ahead by a voice that was not her mother’s.

Leia walked through to see her mother and her aunt Ahsoka sitting on the couch in the office, far from the mahogany desk that complemented her mother’s usually grand dresses. Ahsoka seemed to be comforting the Queen, a hand on her back in a kind gesture.

This was different though; her mother’s dress was almost normal; for a woman who was almost always wearing 20-pound dresses. It was a purple underdress, something that she would have had under one of her court gowns. She was also without a headdress, though one with piles of fake hair was sitting to the side of the couch she was sitting in, her naturally short brown hair lying flat on her back, and her face was bare of any makeup. Her eyes looked slightly puffy and red.

Her mother looked at her as she entered. Leia felt the strange emotion wash over her again, though this was from her mother. The woman who Leia had almost never felt anything from through the force. She didn’t know what to think.

Her mother cleared her throat and whipped her check quickly, “Thank you for coming Leia. Please, sit” She patted the cushion next to her own, the unknown feeling beginning to rise in Leia, sticking to her throat and pooling something into her stomach.

Leia sat down.

Her mother cleared her throat again. Had her mother been actually crying? The Queen’s voice had broken when speaking to Leia originally, but when had Leia ever seen her mother cry, especially around others. Even if those others were the closets things Leia had to family.

“I wanted to talk to you about something, and it is something I should have told you a long time ago.” Her mother took one of Leia’s hands in her own, “When you were born, it was a terrible night. I had just been informed that the Empire was making plans to march on Theed, and the Jedi were reporting more and more Kyber crystals being destroyed by a mysterious agent of the Empire.”

Leia knew this story; she had heard it before. Why was her mother telling her this?

“I had never been so stressed in my life. Your father was missing, General Kenobi was already fighting the Empire’s army at the gates of the city with Ahsoka and Captain Rex. I knew that if they failed, I would probably die. And in the middle of all of it, my water broke. I was rushed to the rooms that had been prepared for the birth, but I was not ready to do it.” Her mother had tears forming, as if it were a dreadful thing to have to give birth to her own child.

“I was there for what felt like forever, until finally I was done, they handed me my child and I felt a pain shot up me again.” Leia knew something was wrong, something wasn’t right with the story, she had never heard it before like this, but she knew. “one of the nurses took my baby as the doctor said there was another one on the way. Then you came out Leia. They handed me you, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka showed up next to me, telling me that the empire had retreated. They said it was alright. It was a lie but right then it was all fine.” Her mother took a shaky breath, “When I asked them where my first child was, they thought I was crazy. Then the doctor said a nurse took him to clean him up. Obi-Wan went to find her, but when he came back…. When he came back he said the nurse was dead, there was no sign of my son.”

Ahsoka put an arm around the queen as she shook. Leia could only stare at her mother’s hand.

Son. There was a Son.

A brother.

Leia had a brother. A brother that she had never known.

How did she never know.

Leia felt Ahsoka stand to get her mother some water. Leia could only stare at her mother’s hand.

Why had she never told her. Why had Leia never known. Why had her mother never told her before now.

“Leia” It was Ahsoka, “Leia, I know this is hard to comprehend, but your mother has wanted to tell you for a while, it was just…”

Her aunt’s words didn’t reach her.

She had a brother. One that was taken when they were babies. Not even an hour old.

What had happened to him.

Why had they never told her?

“What happened to him?” Leia’s own voice felt dead and flat. Like it was not her own.

“We don’t know.” Her aunt was filled with sadness at her own words, “Obi-Wan, he went off to try and track you brother’s kidnapper down, but we never heard from him again. I cannot feel him in the force anymore either. About two weeks after he left, I felt a disturbance in the force, and then I could no longer feel him. I believe that whoever took your brother, also killed General Kenobi.”

Her aunt was shaking, and her usually dark skin was ashen, blood drained from her face as she spoke.

“I wanted to go with him, but Obi-Wan told me to stay her with you and your mother in case something happened again.” Her aunt couldn’t even look Leia in the eyes. Not that Leia was really looking at anything.

She had a brother.

She had a twin brother that should have been by her side. Who should have been her best friend.

They should have been inseparable. They had never even spend a moment in the same room together.

Leia looked at her mother’s face. Red and puffy from crying. How many times had her mother looked at her own daughter and though about the son that was taken from her before she could look at his face.

Leia stood up, dropping her mother’s hand.

She began walking to the door. Her aunt said something behind her, but she can’t hear it.

She walks past Rex. She thinks he says something, she has already started running.

She didn’t know if she uses the force to quicken her legs, but she makes it to her rooms out of breath and panting.

Her room is dull. There is nothing in the curtains that are usually bright red. Nothing to the intricate trim along her windows and walls. There is just nothing.

She had a brother.

The only thing her mind can repeat.

She had a brother and they never told her.

She had a brother and the empire stole him from her.

She had a brother and she had never known.

She had a brother.

She had a brother.


	3. The Lead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After months of traveling and not finding anything that could point towards his family, Luke makes a discovery that he thinks could help him realize where he comes from and who he truly is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again. I know this has been delayed, blame school and other events, or just blame me not wanting to write the next few chapters cause I'm getting kinda sad knowing what I want to do with the story and knowing what the characters are probably gonna go through. Is it okay to feel bad for writing someone else in pain?  
> Anyway, a bit shorter, but so is Luke so.... on with the story!

Luke was tired of dead ends and useless public records houses that gave him no good information on the fact that he didn’t know what his actual birthday might be, or what his actual father’s name was.

After two weeks of fruitlessly following the force, he began looking into the flimsy records, which many of the outlying regions still kept alongside their electronic ones, and that people like him could look at without having to show identification. He never thought he would be so grateful for flimsy, a useless thing in his mind up until this moment where he didn’t need an access card to gain access to birth and death records of surrounding regions.

He had been through so many records, to many that listed child deaths around the time he knew Vader had gotten his hands on him, to many missing children, or children in general that might have just moved within the ten years that they take down these records. It could be a fruitless search, but whenever Luke tried giving up, something inside of him told him to keep going, that he would find an answer soon.

There was one name that kept standing out to him: Kenobi. A general in the army who had saved many of the towns and small cities that Luke had traveled through in the time that he had been in the Republic. A general who was also known for having a not-so-secret love affair with the Duchess Satine of Mandalor, who died not long after Luke was brought to the Empire. General Kenobi was also a powerful Jedi who had disappeared around the same time.

Luke’s thoughts drifted to Mara and some of her final words before he left, ‘They obviously didn’t care enough about me to protect me the first time around’. What if his parents did care, but they just paid the ultimate price for it?

He had considered going to Mandalor, to try and find the new Duchess Bo-Katan, but he had asked around for passage and apparently they had closed their borders to all outsiders due to a civil war they were trying to recover from.

Though he might be able to sneak in, it was also almost a four-month journey and he didn’t have money for transport. Also, he would be hitting those mountains in the winter. Even though he grew up in a desert, he knew that mountains got colder a lot faster than he realized.

He closed the files that he had been looking over trying to find more about Mandalor. It held almost nothing new that he had not already learned. He knew that the Duchess was suspected of begin pregnant when she died, and he also knew that she had died of lightsaber wounds after a coup had tried and failed to gain Mandalor for the Empire.

Everything fit. Everything pointed towards Luke being the child of Master Kenobi and the Duchess Satine. If Vader had stolen him when the coup had failed, it would have been the ultimate slap in the face to the Jedi who was a thorn in the Empire’s side for so long.

Then why did it feel like he was looking at the wrong thing, why did the force seem to want him to turn and look at something that he had yet to think of yet.

He stood up from the table and stretched, gaining a glance in his direction from the librarian who seemed to be playing a game on the desk by themselves. Luke quickly picked up the books he had been using and began placing them back in their spots, leaving the records building and joining the small stream of people on the main street.

Walking down the street, he realized he had not eaten all day. Reaching into his bag, he was met with nothing but air and an old ration package. Oh, right. He was out of food.

Being on the run with no money would probably do that, unfortunately, when he left he did not have access to any republic money, seeing as it was almost impossible to get to the republic except by boat, and all the ports were heavily guarded by Republic forces.

For the last few days he had been secretly stealing from food stalls in the market. The force was meant to be a tool, so he used it. Nothing big, just a single piece from three or four carts, and only the places that seemed to be getting good business, so he wouldn’t hurt their margins. Not that they probably noticed, this town seemed to be experiencing a good harvest and an over abundance of food.

Pulling his hood over his face, he walked with the crowd. Quickly scouting out the stalls he spotted one with multiple people, and a fat man working the stall. Perfect.

He walked over, pretending to brows the cart next to his target, listening to the fat man boast to his customers about how fresh his fruits were, “They were all harvested this morning, fresh from the vines and their bushes, not even the Jedi or the Queen eat this well. I would know to.” He ended with a smile, full of teeth.

But it made Luke freeze, something about the way he said it, how he talked about Jedi. From what Luke knew, the Jedi were fewer and further between than the inquisitors.

“Excuse me sir, did you know the Jedi?” Luke asked, turning his attention away from stealing a fruit, and instead to see if this man knew anything about the old order.

“Know the Jedi! Ha, I was friends with a few. Back when I lived in Theed I owned a dinner that a few of the would come to. Some great stories they had to tell, and they sometimes needed help to, and I am a man of many talents, so I helped them when I could” The man seemed very proud at possibly have extensive illegal underworld contacts, not that Luke could judge though, considering who raised him.

“I am looking for a Jedi, do you think you could help me find him?”

The large man looked down on him, suddenly Luke felt his short height catch up with him as this man towered over him, even from behind a market stall.

“What cha looking for a Jedi for boy, they’re all fighting the empire on the coats, well, the ones that aint insane now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Probably before you were born huu,” The man exchanged some fruit and money with a customer, “Well not many people know this, but I was there in Theed, I know what happened when the Empire tried taking the city. When that big black cloaked fella destroyed those kyber crystals and killed those Jedi, something snapped in a bunch of them. The started going mad.” The big man shuttered, “I watched from my window as the black cloak would get close to a Jedi, and the Jedi would just fall to the ground screaming. I know Jedi have powers, but this guy wasn’t no jedi. His lasersword was covered in blood. I remember that much correct. That and the sound those poor people made when he killed them.”

The man exchanged fruit and money a few more times as Luke realized he had told him about Vader when he stormed Theed. Luke knew that Vader had tried and failed to take the capital of the republic, it was one reason the Emperor had banished him to Mustafar when Luke was a child, and one of the reasons Vader had never gone back to the capital of either side. Vader had always said it was punishment for failing to destroy their enemies.

“You said you knew a few of them personally?”

“Yeah, General Kenobi used to come in with General Skywalker and a few others, I think the only one still alive is Commander Tano, but I moved after that day.” The man shrugged off the death of his old customers, probably having had mourned them along with the other civilians Luke knew had died to Vader and his stormtroopers.

Luke perked at the name, he kept running into General Kenobi, was this the force telling him that he was not mistaken in thinking the man was his father? It could be this commander Tano as well, that name did keep cropping up. He knew General Skywalker couldn’t be his father, Queen Amidala only had one child with her husband, and that was the current princess of Theed, he had checked.

“You knew General Kenobi? I am looking for him, are you sure he is dead?”

The man scrunched his eyebrows, “What are you doing looking for a Jedi?”

Think fast Luke, “I think he might be able to help me find my father”

The man sighed, “Kid, I’m sorry, but im pretty sure he’s dead. A couple of people said he chased after that cloak guy and that he died in the desert near the wall, plus, no one could survive in that desert by themselves for twenty years, you’ll have to find someone else to find your pop.”

“He chased Vader into the desert?” Luke said to himself, could Kenobi have been chasing Vader down because of Luke? Did Vader steal him from right under his father and then killed his father in the desert?

“Who’s Vader?” The man asked confused.

“Oh, no one! Just thinking to myself”

“Well, if you are looking for a Jedi, there is a cray hermit in the swamp that people say used to be a Jedi, but I wouldn’t go there unless you are ready to die. Weird creatures live in that swamp, and few come out again once they go in.” The man then turned his attention towards the paying customers at the stall, leaving Luke to think about what he had said.

Luke wished he could have given the man some money for his time and information, but instead he decided that he wouldn’t take any of the man’s fruits, that was all he could really do right now. The information he had gained instead was valuable. Kenobi was beginning to look more and more like his father.

Maybe the duchess gave birth to him before the coup and Kenobi had taken him to Theed to keep him safe? Or maybe the duchess didn’t actually die in the coup, and died later on after giving birth?

To many possibilities, and if Kenobi was really dead then the only chance he had to learn about his possible father was in the swamp. That is, if the swamp hermit really was a Jedi, and not just a crazy person who lived in a swamp.

Though, anyone who willingly lived in a dangerous swamp might not be in the right mind to be asking serious questions such as the location of a legendary Jedi master, it was all he had, and he was going to take it.

After asking around about the swamp, Luke knew three things. One, the place was called Dagobah Swamp. Two, it was riddled with dangerous creatures that ate people whole. Three, it was cursed and hosted a wicked imp that killed all that came near its lair. A pretty great place for a former grandmaster of the Jedi to live.

‘The vendor was right’ Luke thought, ‘This Jedi must be crazy.’

But there was no where else to go. He could try and head for the coast where most of the Jedi and soldiers were at, places like Lothal and Scariff were always under heavy fire for being coastal cities, but something was urging him to go towards the Swamp. He hoped that it was the Force, and not some latent death wish he didn’t realize he had.

He stayed in the town one more night before heading off, carrying a bag of stolen foods for he journey on his back as he headed off towards the tall trees that covered the horizon to the east.

The walk was probably nice, but he couldn’t really tell anymore, he had been walking ever since he left the empire. The desert had all looked the same, and now the slowly flattening valley was beginning to look identical all around, big trees, and moss beginning to appear.

There were many signs. Little woodden posts saying things like ‘Turn back’, and ‘Only the foolish travel through The Dagobah’. It was these kinds of things that made Luke glad that he had the Force at his side. He did worry that he could be killed in the swamp, but he also had it in the back of his head that Vader could pop out any second and either drag him back to Mustafar, or a Jedi could come and try to kill him where he stands.

Either way, Luke was always flirting with death on this side of the world, one little swamp was not going to scare him just because of a few big animals and a supposed evil entity.

He walked into the thick of the swamp, lightsaber hilt in hand to cut down the vines that covered the overgrown path, and began his trek into the most dangerous swamp in the Republic.


End file.
